Sophocleese,I love those long, grim songs with death and such things in them, and wish that people would just relax and enjoy them. I have to agree with the audienc on the personal songs about child abuse though, as I think that is going to far for a little applause--Mr. Red, thank you for the tip on playing "The Unquiet Grave"--I have a dancing Christmas tree, but I don't think it will have the same effect.

RangerSteve, I think that Mona Lisa on clawhammer banjo would be just about right, and I encourage you to take it out for company. Ray Stevens had a banjo version of "Misty", and I think that I liked it even more that "Guitarzan". Charlie, I would be a bit dubious about how anybody that didn't know anything about folk music would know what the right or wrong key for anything was--I put it off to "banjo-envy".

I must confess that it has been a good longtime since some scalawag carried off my banjo, but all these stories related to banjo-ostracizement make me hanker to find another one--